Trump’s New Executive Order Restricts Asylum at US-Mexico Border

José Olivares, WNYC,November 13, 2018

The Trump Administration instituted a new policy change, effective on Saturday, that changes asylum requests in the U.S. The Trump Administration has now determined that asylum seekers can only request asylum at U.S. ports of entry.

The Trump Administration instituted a new policy change, effective on Saturday, that changes asylum requests in the U.S. The Trump Administration has now determined that asylum seekers can only request asylum at U.S. ports of entry.

Prior to this change, if migrants crossed the border into the U.S. illegally, they could request asylum from immigration officials. Now, only those who present themselves at ports of entry can request asylum. If they enter the U.S. between ports of entry, they will not be allowed to.

This is just another move by the Trump Administration to limit asylum requests. Earlier this year, the White House announced that those fleeing domestic and gang violence are now ineligible to request asylum. And last year, the administration ended an Obama-era program that would allow children from the Northern Triangle to request asylum from their countries, prior to coming to the U.S. so they could avoid the perilous journey through Mexico.

This is an alleged violation of the U.S. Refugee Act, passed by Congress in 1980, which states that people are able to request asylum as long as they are on U.S. soil, regardless of whether they are at a port of entry, or if they entered illegally. The ACLU is currently filing a suit against the Trump Administration for the latest policy change.

Already there have been reports of border agents turning asylum seekers away from U.S. ports of entry. And the process for requesting asylum is long, with a significant backlog. So what happens now?

And Patrick Taurel joins The Takeaway as well. He is an Associate with the Immigration Practice Group with the Clark Hill law firm.

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